Top roller support arrangement for a textile drawing mechanism



TOP ROLLER SUPPORT ARRANGEMENT FOR A TEXTILE DRAWING MECHANISM FiledMarch 8, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 K j y I L z v /NVEN70P Dec. 14, 1965 KA E 3,222,731

TOP ROLLER SUPPORT ARRANGEMENT FOR A TEXTILE DRAWING MECHANISM FiledMarch 8, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3,222,731 T]? ROLLER SUPEORT ARRANGEMENTFUR A TEXTILE DRAWING MECHANESM Rolf Kramer, StuttgartJFeuer-bach,Germany, assignor to SKF Kugellagerfabriken Gesellschaft mitbeschrankter Haftnng, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, Germany, a company ofGermany Fited Mar. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 263,873 (Claims priority,appiication Germany, Mar. 17, 1962, S 78,540 7 Claims. (Cl. 1252) Thisinvention relates to textile spinning machinery, and more particularlyto a top roller support arrangement for a drawing mechanism of the typein which several top rollers are mounted on a carrier arm by means ofindividual brackets, and an apron is trained over one of the toprollers.

In the normal operative position of the top rollers, a common planetangential to the rollers constitutes the drawing plane in which sliversmove. An apron is trained over a first top roller and over an aproncradle for movement of the apron in a path a portion of which extendssubstantially in the drawing plane toward a second roller. The aproncooperates with a correspondingly mounted bottom roller apron to guidethe sliver into the throat formed between the second top roller and acooperating bottom roller. The sliver moves freely or floats between theforward end of the aprons and the afore-mentioned throat.

For precise control of the drawing operation, it is desirable to keepthe distance between the forward apron end and the throat of the secondroller as short as possible. When conventional twin rollers are employedin which two cylindrical members connected by a short shaft rotate aboutthe common axis, it is necessary to keep the axes of the first andsecond twin top rollers parallel in order to hold the free path of thesliver uniformly short with respect to both cylindrical members of eachtwin roller. At the same time, it is necessary that at least the secondtop roller be free not only to move toward and away from the drawingplane, but also to pivot or swing about an axis approximatelyperpendicular to the drawing plane, that is, to pivot in a planeparallel to the drawing plane.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a top rollersupport arrangement in which parallel alignment of the first and secondtop rollers is safely and precisely maintained even when the secondroller pivots about the referred to perpendicular axis so as to make thelength of the floating sliver portion uniform and as short as possible.

With this and other objects in view, the invention provides motiontransmitting means which connect the first and second rollers for jointpivotal movement about the respective axes which are perpendicular tothe drawing lane.

p Other features and many of the attendant advantages of this inventionwill be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood byreference to the following detailed description when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which like referencenumerals designate like parts throughout the figure thereof, andwherein:

FIG. 1 shows a portion of a drawing mechanism according to the inventionin side elevation, a part of a supporting arm being broken away for abetter view of internal elements;

FIG. 2 shows elements of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in front elevationalsection on the line IIII;

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in acorresponding View; and

nited States Patent 0 M 3,222,731 Patented Dec. 14, 1965 FIG. 4 is afront-elevational sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 3 taken on theline IV-IV.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2,there is seen an elongated carrier arm 1 on which the top rollers aresupported. Only the front end of the arm 1 is shown, and it will beunderstood that the rear end of the arm is mounted on the stationaryframe of a spinning machine in the usual manner, and that the arm may belocked in the operative position illustrated in FIG. 1. As clearly seenin FIG. 2, the arm 1 has the cross sectional shape of a downwardly openU-channel.

A transverse pin 2 is mounted between the two flanges of the arm 1, andthe hook-shaped rear terminal portion 17 of a bracket 3 is looped overthe pin 2. As seen in FIG. 2, the bracket portion 17 has the shape of aflat elongated strip having a longitudinal center rib of arcuate crosssection. The bracket portion 17 thus is capable of pivotal movementabout the axis of the pin 2, and of limited pivotal movement about avertical axis.

The front terminal portion 4 of the bracket 3 has the shape of adownwardly open U-channel. Conforming recesses in the two flanges of theterminal portion 4 provide bearings in which the central shaft 5 of atwin roller 6 is journaled. The roller 6 constitutes the discharge orsecond member of the top roller arrangement. In cooperation with abottom roller 9 it discharges a sliver 7 from the drawing mechanism.Since the bottom roller arrangement is not directly relevant to thisinvention, and may be entirely conventional, it has not been shown indetail, but it will be understood that the bottom rollers are mounted onthe stationary machine frame and are driven. A spring 8 urges thebracket 3 downwardly away from the arm 1, and a stop It) on the bracketcooperates with a projecting portion of the arm 1 to limit the downwardmovement of the bracket 3.

A first top roller 6 which is first in the direction of sliver movementis mounted on the arm 1 by means of a sleeve 10. The sleeve conforms toa portion of the inner wall of the arm 1, and is longitudinally slidablewithin the arm. A set screw 11 threadedly engages the sleeve 10 andpasses through a longitudinaly slot in the arm 1. This slot permitslongitudinal adjustment of the position of the sleeve 10. A transversepin 2 in the sleeve 10 carries the rear terminal portion 17' of abracket 3'. The front terminal portion 4' of the bracket 3 providesbearings for the shaft 5 of the twin roller 6. The configuration of therear terminal portion 17 of the bracket 3' is similar to that of theterminal portion 17 so that the bracket 3' is pivotable not only towardand away from the normal path of the sliver 7 in the drawing plane, butalso movable about a vertical axis passing through the center of the pin2'. A helical spring 8' mounted within the arm 1 urges the bracket 3toward the drawing plane and a cooperating bottom roller 9'. A stop 10"engages a projecting portion of the arm 1 to limit movement of thebracket 3 under the urging of the spring 8'.

A top apron 12 is trained over each of the cylindrical members of therop roller 6' and over the front part of an apron cradle 13. The rearpart 16 of the cradle 13 conformingly engages the shaft 5 of the firstroller 6'. The top apron 12 cooperates with a corresponding bottom apron14 trained over the bottom roller 9 and a bottom apron bar guide 15 inthe usual manner.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 isidentical with that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 except for a differentlymounted top apron cradle 13. The front end 16' of the cradle is hookedover the shaft 5 of the second roller 6 whereas the rear end of thecradle guides the front portion of the aprons 12.

In the normal position of the top roller arrangement shown in FIGS. 1and 3, the pins 2, 2' are mounted almost in a common vertical plane, andthe vertical and parallel pivoting axes of the brackets 3, 3 aretherefore so closely adjacent each other that they practically coincide.The bracket 3 is very much longer than the bracket 3'. A central portionof the bracket 3 has lateral flanges 3" by means of which the bracket 3straddles the bracket 3. Corresponding lateral portions 311 of thebracket 3 and the flanges 3" are in sliding contact with each other, andpartly conform to each other in all relative positions of the bracketsthat may be provided by the adjusting movement of the sleeve in thearm 1. The abutting engagement of the two flanges 3 with correspondingportions 3a of the bracket 3 couples the two brackets so that one cannotmove about its vertical pivot axis without taking the other along in acorresponding pivoting movement. Yet, the brackets 3, 3' mayindependently move about the pin 2 and 2', respectively, toward and awayfrom the drawing plane or the corresponding bottom roller. The flanges3" of the bracket 3' and the corresponding portions 3a of the bracket 3act as motion transmitting or abutment means and are referred in theclaims as abutment means. In the embodiments selected for illustration,the flanges 3" and the portions 3a are shown to be integral portions ofthe bracket 3' and 3, respectively.

The horizontal spacing of the pins 2, 2' in all adjusted positions ofthe sleeve 10 on the arm 1 is but a very small fraction of thehorizontal length of the bracket 3', and an even smaller fraction of thehorizontal length of the bracket 3. The angle of possible pivotingmovement of the brackets 3, 3 in a horizontal plane parallel to thedrawing plane is relatively small. The axes of the rollers 6, 6' aretherefore practically parallel in all operative positions of the toproller arangements shown in the drawings. The axes of rotation of therollers 6, 6 are originally parallel, and the axes of the pins 2, 2' maybe precisely arranged in a common vertical plane by loosening the screw11, and slightly shifting the sleeve 10 rearward from the position shownin FIGS. 1 and 3. The apparatus when so adjusted maintains preciselyparallel alignment of the rollers 6, 6 regardless of the pivoting anglesof the brackets about their vertical axes. The apparatus of theinvention thus ensures practically uniform or precisely uniform minimumspacing between the front ends of the aprons 12, 14 and the throat ofthe rollers 6, 9.

The relatively great length of the bracket 3 causes the bracket to swingabout its vertical axis very quickly in response to the movement of thedrawn sliver into a position in which the top rollers are parallel tothe cooperating bottom rollers. The motion transmitting connectionbetween the two rollers 6, 6 causes the apron to participate in thisquick adjusting motion.

In other respects the apparatus illustrated operates in a manner knownto those skilled in the art and not requiring further description. Thelever 18 mounted on the arm 1 permits the arm to be swung away from thebottom rollers for maintenance work, as is conventional.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosurerelates to only preferred embodiments of the invention, and that it isintended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples of theinvention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure which do notconstitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention setforth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a top roller arrangement for a textile drawing mechanism,

(a) an elongated carrier arm,

(b) two bracket members, and

(c) a first and a second roller, each of said rollers being mounted onone of said bracket members for rotation about an axis extendingperpendicularly to the direction of elongation of said arm, each of saidbracket members being mounted on said arm for independent pivotingmovements toward and away from a common plane tangential to both of saidrollers, and for swinging movements substantially parallel to said planeabout a pivoting axis substantially perpendicular to said plane, each ofsaid bracket members being provided with abutment means, the abutmentmeans of both of said bracket members engaging each other fortransmitting any swinging movement of one of said bracket members to theother bracket member.

2. In the arrangement according to claim 1, the abutment means of saidbracket members engaging each other in a direction substantiallyparallel to said plane and, thus, keeping said axes of rotationsubstantially parallel during a joint swinging movement.

3. In the arrangement according to claim 1, cradle means between saidrollers and supported by one of said rollers to take part in jointswinging movements of both of said bracket members, and drawing apronmeans trained over said cradle means and one of said rollers.

4. In the arrangement according to claim 1, the abutment means of one ofsaid bracket members straddling the abutment means of the other bracketmember.

5. In the arrangement according to claim 1, each of said bracket membersbeing elongated and having a first terminal portion pivotally secured tosaid arm and a second terminal portion having one of said rollersrotatably mounted thereon, the abutment means of said bracket membersbeing provided intermediate said first and second terminal portions.

6. In an arrangement as set forth in claim 1, said pivoting axes beingclosely adjacent each other and substantially parallel to each other.

7. In a top roller arrangement for a drawing mechanism, in combination:

(a) a support;

(b) first and second bracket means mounted on said support;

(c) a first and second top roller, said rollers normally defining adrawing plane;

(d) bearing means provided on each of said bracket means for rotatablyreceiving said first and second roller, respectively;

(e) cradle means mounted between said rollers and supported by one ofsaid rollers;

(f) an apron trained over said first roller and said cradle means anddefining a path in said drawing plane;

(1) each of said bracket means being mounted to pivot about a first axissubstantially parallel to said drawing plane toward and away from saiddrawing plane, and to swing about a second axis substantiallyperpendicular to said drawing plane; and

(g) abutment means provided on said bracket means for mutual engagementof said bracket means and causing joint movements of said bracket meansand cradle means about said second axes.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,708,290 5/1955Neu et al. 2,746,095 5/1956 Dausch 19280 2,758,340 8/1956 Anderson 192823,021,574 2/1962 Dausch et al. 19282 3,050,789 8/1962 Rogner 19252DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A TOP ROLLER ARRANGEMENT FOR A TEXTILE DRAWING MECHANISM, (A) ANELONGATED CARRIER ARM, (B) TWO BRACKET MEMBERS, AND (C) A FIRST AND ASECOND ROLLER, EACH OF SAID ROLLERS BEING MOUNTED ON ONE OF SAID BRACKETMEMBERS FOR ROTATION ABOUT AN AXIS EXTENDING PERPENDICULARLY TO THEDIRECTION OF ELONGATION OF SAID ARM, EACH OF SAID BRACKET MEMBERS BEINGMOUNTED ON SAID ARM FOR INDEPENDENT PIVOTING MOVEMENTS TOWARD AND AWAYFROM A COMMON PLANE TANGENTIAL TO BOTH OF SAID ROLLERS, AND FOR SWINGINGMOVEMENTS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID PLANE ABOUT A PIVOTING AXISSUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO SAID PLANE, EACH OF SAID BRACKET MEMBERSBEING PROVIDED WITH ABUTMENT MEANS, THE ABUTMENT MEANS OF BOTH OF SAIDBRACKET MEMBERS ENGAGING EACH OTHER FOR TRANSMITTING ANY SWINGINGMOVEMENT OF ONE OF SAID BRACKET MEMBERS TO THE OTHER BRACKET MEMBER.